Keeping up with the conversations | Mike Forrester

Keeping up with the conversations is a regular article following up on our interviews with business leaders across Worcestershire which feature monthly in County Lifestyle and Leisure Magazine. Keeping up with the conversations is a chance to catch up on the news with previous interviewees.

This month, we chat with Mike Forrester, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, to find out what’s new:

At this time, it is difficult not to have concerns and anxiety for people and business caught up in the pandemic.

From a business and personal perspective, the Covid 19 pandemic has touched all of us in some way. Some with great tragedy and some where their business activities are close to failure. My sincere condolences to those who have suffered bereavements either within their families, close friends or colleagues.

Many people take the risk starting and running small businesses and there are many members within the Chamber of Commerce with 1-10 employees. Their business activity that has been hard won since they started has, in many cases, been reversed back to nil. The owners, directors and employees depend on their business for financial income to pay mortgages, bills and provide the essentials for a stable & enjoyable family life. The government also needs these and all businesses to be functioning at a high level to generate future tax revenues to fund the various generous business and job retention support packages. As I write there is little clarity as to how many of these businesses will be able to reopen and operate. Importantly it is difficult to judge how people’s confidence to attend social activities and attitude to personal risk will impact business even when restrictions are lifted. I am very passionate about supporting small businesses either through the Chamber or personally and it is upsetting to see the impact on people I know well. We all need to be conscious and sensitive to people’s mental health and wellbeing as the pandemic and lockdown effects everyone in different ways.

The Chamber has directed its activities to supporting its members through signposting and help to secure available government support. Canvassing them on their concerns and difficulties and making sure members feedback is in front of local MP’s and the British Chambers of Commerce to present directly to government.

Personally, I have various work-related interests and investments, even though I supposedly ‘retired’ in August last year. I consult internationally for a major food company working on market and business development in North America and Australia. I also work as part of the M & A team prospecting and researching possible new acquisitions and running the commercial due diligence during the acquisition process. At this time, we are ‘pens down’, which means nothing is happening! The company has a travel ban and we would all like to see how resilient a prospective target’s sales and operations are during and after the pandemic. It is an exciting role and I’m looking forward to getting back to it.

I do have concerns about international travel element, both the possible health risk and the potential inconvenient new procedures may bring. Many companies will be having a close look at their travel costs too. This has become the age of the video conference. I enjoyed an ‘early doors’ drink with a number of friends via Zoom a few days ago. Fun but not quite the same social interaction we usually enjoy.

A more personal involvement is around a new events business in Herefordshire at Crumplebury Farm on the Whitbourne Estate, just outside Bromyard, that also includes the well-known Green Cow Kitchens restaurant. While a range of events will be part of the activities, weddings will form an important contribution. We currently have over 40 weddings booked with no cancellations and the bride and groom in every instance have at this stage elected to take a new date later in 2020 or 2021. We are looking forward to re-opening the restaurant and welcoming wedding parties back. However personally I can see that large gatherings of people from around the country, descending on one location, will be one of the last activities to be unlocked.

My other interest is in food manufacturing related are very busy, while my retail hospitality outlets are closed. I am working with a local PR company to get ready for a re-opening and getting visitor numbers back to previous levels.

Other music industry interests with some highly promising bands are on hold. The music festival calendar and live gigs all suspended. One upcoming band was due to play at Glastonbury this year, hopefully it will happen next year.

I am also looking forward to the restart of the Rugby season at Luctonians. We have yet to know if the season will start on time in September/October and it may do but teams like to start training regimes in August. It is not good rugby or good for players wellbeing to go straight from a summer rest to full contact games. I chair the rugby development group and it seems we have retained all last season’s players and coaches, so a good omen for a competitive year.

The family and I are all well but missing a cuddle with the granddaughters. We had a family holiday planned in Ibiza in June. Like many people that annual family occasion has been cancelled this year. Although my wife and I did manage to spend 5 weeks in Australia and Tasmania in February while much of Herefordshire and Worcestershire was flooded. Its my fourth visit to Tasmania. It’s an amazing wilderness and if I had to live anywhere else in the world it would be high on the list. Its very much like Herefordshire and Worcestershire with the same population of the two counties combined but about the same size as Ireland.

I also enjoy country sports and in some cases the virus is doing its best to curtail those too.

Some of us are so lucky to live in North Herefordshire/Worcestershire where social distancing is the norm. Particularly in Herefordshire a low population density seems to help to keep virus infection rates down. The border crosses my property just outside Upper Sapey.

The short-term future is likely to be very different for all of us socially and in business. We have to be adaptable and understanding that measures that may be in place are for the safely of all, particularly our amazing and selfless NHS staff. While also getting the country’s economic activity back up to speed as quickly as possible. The key is of course a vaccine and let’s hope the immense research and development activity that is taking place around the world results in a successful treatment. Then we should be able to get back to life as we love it with a full on social and business life.

As seen online at the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce. Click here for the original interview and go to for all of our In conversation with features.

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